Becoming a Foster Parent

Introduction

You have reached the site of the Foster Care Homefinding Unit of the Department of Human Services in Monroe County. If you are thinking about becoming a foster parent, or looking for more information about the process, read on. We are happy you are here! Nurturing a child and keeping him or her safe is the highest community service you can provide for children!

Need for Foster Parents

With few exceptions, most of the foster children in Monroe County are in the care and custody of the Department of Human Services. On average, Monroe County has approximately 470 children in foster care of all races and ages, from birth to 21. Many children are returned to their own home when the crisis, necessitating in their placement into foster care, has passed. Others, unable to return home for a variety of reasons, are adopted, often by their foster parent, or placed with a relative through custody or guardianship. Your help is greatly needed to provide a safe, nurturing home for a child. Please see monroefostercare.org for more information.

Children enter foster care most often as a result of abuse and/or neglect, or as a juvenile delinquent at the Court's order. The need for foster and foster/adoptive homes is significant and constant. Monroe County Department of Human Services is looking for families who will foster infants, preschoolers, school-age children, teens, sibling groups, pregnant and parenting teens, as well as children with special needs (e.g. medically frail children or children with developmental delays). The goal is always returning the child home to a parent, however sometimes that is not possible and foster children become available for adoption, giving foster parents the opportunity to adopt. Except for personal legal fees, the adoption entails no costs.

Foster Parenting

Foster parenting is not for everyone, but it might be for you! It takes a special person to open his or her home to a child. Most foster parents will tell you that this experience will change your life for the better! You can make a difference in a child’s life, no matter how long or short the stay, by helping the child navigate this transitional period in his or her life. For these children, the journey is often lonely and difficult.

The best foster parents are genuinely interested in providing a child with guidance, love, understanding, and a safe, nurturing home. They are structured, set reasonable limits, and have realistic expectations. They are flexible and patient, and value children as individuals. They communicate effectively, and help children develop positive self-esteem. They help children learn appropriate behaviors using positive reinforcement and discipline. Above all, they integrate the children into their families, even if only for a short time.

Foster parents, like the children they care for, come from all walks of life. They live in the city, the suburbs, and the countryside. They have children of their own, children who are now adults, or no children at all. They are male or female, married or single. They are at least 21 years of age. They are employed or retired, and have a stable income of their own. They have been determined to be physically and emotionally healthy by their doctor. Each prospective foster parent and any adult living in the home must be fingerprinted for a criminal record check as required by New York State. Each adult in your household will receive a State Central Registry check with New York State to assure no one has been indicated for child abuse or neglect. Space and safety requirements to accommodate a foster child in the home will be discussed with a Homefinding caseworker.

Supports for Foster Parents

As a foster parent for Monroe County Department of Human Services, you will receive a daily board rate (based on the age and needs of the child), a diaper and clothing allowance, childcare funding for working foster parents, and Medicaid coverage for each child. Medicaid will cover all the child’s medical care, as well as counseling services, as necessary. In addition, you will receive casework support from the child’s foster care caseworker, and support from a Homefinding caseworker.

Certification Process

Interested Monroe County residents will be invited to an Informational meeting, which is held monthly. If an individual or couple decides to apply for certification, each applicant will then meet with a Homefinding caseworker in the home, and if basic qualifications are met (see above), will receive extensive training, usually held in the evenings or Saturdays. A Home study will then be written by the Homefinding caseworker, after which the applicant becomes certified as a Foster/Adoptive Parent and is ready to accept foster children into the home!

For more information, please go to our website below or call Homefinding at 585 753-6522. We look forward to hearing from you!

Monroe County Foster Care Website

Foster Care Program Units

The Foster Care program area of the Monroe County Department of Human Services, Children and Family Services, is comprised of the following types of units:

Foster Care Intake

Interfaces with requests for foster care placements from the MCDHS Child and Family Services teams and from the Monroe County community and offers immediacy of response to families in crisis in a professional, empathic, respectful, and culturally sensitive manner. For more information, contact 585-753-5765

Child Protective Management

Provides respectful, strength-based, and culturally competent case management and supportive services to children and their families when it is determined maltreatment has occurred and Family Court has ordered County intervention. Safety, permanency and well-being are the main focus of these teams, who work to support the right of each child to a stable, safe, and nurturing environment where he or she can develop secure attachments and a sense of belonging. Some of these families have children in foster care, some have children court-placed with relatives, and others have children at home under MCDHS supervision.

Youth Opportunity Unit

Serves foster care youth in the 16 to 21 year age range who have a goal of independent living. While the basic goal is to provide adolescents with the tools to live independently, the YOU Team also assists teens who are in foster care with vocational and college decisions, accessing resources and supports, and direct support as youth transition to adulthood. 

Residential Services

Provides case management for foster children in congregate care settings, including youth who have been adjudicated as Juvenile Delinquents. Children are placed with voluntary agencies under contract with MCDHS to provide foster care services.  Residential Services also serves youth designated as Unaccompanied Refugee Minors. 

Adoption

Our Adoption Team works closely with children in need of an adoptive home. Our goal is to find a permanent family for each child; a family where children can grow and thrive in a close, loving environment. The team's wide ranging skills help adoptive families access any services needed to create a warm, loving, and permanent relationship.